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This week the Review Group is covering Ultimate Comics Thor #1 and we want YOU to post a review!

Are as you excited for this week's Ultimate Comics Thor #1 as Punchy and the Outhouse's legions upon legions of Jonathan Hickman fans? Do you want to write a review for it and discuss the book in depth with other members of the Outhouse community? Yes, yes of course you do.

See that Comment Box a little ways down the page? Post already! Or you can go to The News Stand forum and follow the thread there. Post your own review and by this time next week you can see your review posted along side your fellow reviewers on the front page of The Outhouse just like everyone who reviewed last week's pick, Franken-Castle #21.

Ultimate Comics Thor #1

WRITER: Jonathan HickmanPENCILS: Carlos Pacheco

Exploding from the pages of the Ultimates, comes Ultimate Thor! Don't miss the superstar team-up of JONATHAN HICKMAN and CARLOS PACHECO as they go back to the beginning and tell the origin of Thor, Loki and the rest of Asgard! Ragnorak has descended and Asgard sits at the edge of the end. What will become of Thor and the Warriors Three? And what exactly does Baron Zemo, mysterious commander for the Nazis, have to do with it all? Ultimate Comics Thor brings you the untold story of Thor's thunderous debut! Rated T $3.99

The fine folks at Marvel provided The Outhouse with a preview. You can check it out here.

Comic books are not the same as storyboards. Comic books are not illustrated movies. Comic books are a unique art form.

It's too bad that Hickman and Pacheco don't seem to understand this. Their latest book, ULTIMATE THOR #1, is an example of a comic book trying to be like an epic movie and wasting a lot of space in the process.

I could complain about the opening page that features nothing but a large epigram: "Do you lack faith brother or do you believe?" Or I could complain about the following two pages that are filled with portentous illustrations, but that don't really tell much story. Or I could complain about the subsequent double-page spread of Nazis attacking Asgard, which, although gorgeously illustrated, could have been contained in a single splash page. Or I could complain about the overly long, almost completely wordless battle scenes between Thor and the Frost Giants that, again, don't really push the story forward.

But all of these examples are minor indulgences compared to the double-page spread dedicated to the creator credits. Yes, that's right: a two-page spread without illustrations, without word balloons, that simply headlines the names of Hickman and Pacheco. If this were the opening title sequence of a movie, it would be unremarkable. But to find this big credit inside a comic book is truly unbelievable. And unforgivable. This is a wasteful and utterly self-indulgent move, and reinforces that Hickman is the most pretentious and superficial storyteller working at the Big Two.

Combine all those unnecessary double-page spreads with all the pointless epic flourishes to emphasize how SUPER BIG this story is supposed to be, and what you're left with is an empty, unsatisfying book.